platforms
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bigsegs
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standard 2.5m ceiling (most of em), hop up, just drag it round with your foot, victorian ceilings are a bit higher, set of stilts or some good steps (depends how many your'e gonna do 300 quid versus 30 quid), really tall ceilings I just hire an ali tower maybe £120 a week, £35 a day, comes with wheels, maybe use the bottom section, for the amount your'e gonna get is it worth buying one? then u gotta store it when you're not usin it...
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bigsegs
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you only got 2 arms and two legs, some people do like to plank out so they can walk the trowel accross the ceiling, i used to do that till i fell off whilst lookin at the ceiling, plus its a pain to transport all those planks and set up/knock down, i can turn up for a 20m artex ceiling with 2 buckets, a mixer, a hop up, trowels, scrim, pva, roller on a stick, floor scraper and 3 bags of multi....all in the back of an estate car, be in and paid/gone in 3 hours
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bigsegs
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loads of info on here for them, everyone has their own preferered method try a forum search for artex ceilings..
me, if its unsound, loose or i dont think itll take it ill either overboard or drop it/start again
if its ok, floor scraper, on the ceiling, take the high spots off..
plenty of pva, 1st coat 5:1, second coat 3:1 let it go tacky..
if it sucks like a pro then give it another about 4:1 before youre 3:1
then knock up bout 1 1/2 times what you normally would for a first coat, make it quite thick and put it on thick, try and hide ALL the artex with this coat, if not your topping prolly wont cover it..
then flatten and top it as normal, topping may need to be slightly thicker...thats it...i always try and think about the weight...
me, if its unsound, loose or i dont think itll take it ill either overboard or drop it/start again
if its ok, floor scraper, on the ceiling, take the high spots off..
plenty of pva, 1st coat 5:1, second coat 3:1 let it go tacky..
if it sucks like a pro then give it another about 4:1 before youre 3:1
then knock up bout 1 1/2 times what you normally would for a first coat, make it quite thick and put it on thick, try and hide ALL the artex with this coat, if not your topping prolly wont cover it..
then flatten and top it as normal, topping may need to be slightly thicker...thats it...i always try and think about the weight...
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bigsegs
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just another thought about hop ups, shop around a bit cos they generally come in 2 heights, the shorter one does me a standard ceiling perfect, add 8" to the height however and i get a stiff neck and the trowel sweep gets shorter/takes longer/more effort...you can buy a taller one for about 40 quid, bit better build (makes no odds really, just they cost more) but the extra 6" or so really helps you in the right situation and you do tend to get a few that are just that bit taller than normal..
garage conversions however, I'm 5'10" and i can easy do em on flat feet...
garage conversions however, I'm 5'10" and i can easy do em on flat feet...
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bigsegs
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ive had em crack, ive had a full first coat bubble round the light, next thing we knew you could stick your head through the hole and look into an upside down dome of semi set plaster, next thing it hit the floor - distemper......another thread, give it a quick search...
best thing to do i think is get under it and give it s good hard shove in a few places, if it moves excesively seriously consider dropping it cos it aint well fixed, usually tell cos the ceiling has bulges in it, big ones, and its usually lath and plaster..
water damaged plasterboard can come loose too, or even if its just been nailed up, not very well, with the old galvo nails...
if the ceiling has been plastered before, then artexed over and they didnt seal it beforehand it's gonna be loose, youll soon know when you take your floorscraper to it, if it comes off in sheets dont expect any you leave on to stay up... you might even be able to scrape the whole lot off dead easy, then its an easy skimming job...ill do an artex ceiling for £100 BUT i always go over it with a bloody microscope before i quote it...any extras are extras, if they dont wanna pay for it ill let someone else go and make a t**t of themselves....
best thing to do i think is get under it and give it s good hard shove in a few places, if it moves excesively seriously consider dropping it cos it aint well fixed, usually tell cos the ceiling has bulges in it, big ones, and its usually lath and plaster..
water damaged plasterboard can come loose too, or even if its just been nailed up, not very well, with the old galvo nails...
if the ceiling has been plastered before, then artexed over and they didnt seal it beforehand it's gonna be loose, youll soon know when you take your floorscraper to it, if it comes off in sheets dont expect any you leave on to stay up... you might even be able to scrape the whole lot off dead easy, then its an easy skimming job...ill do an artex ceiling for £100 BUT i always go over it with a bloody microscope before i quote it...any extras are extras, if they dont wanna pay for it ill let someone else go and make a t**t of themselves....
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bigsegs
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o yeh the drill...um, maybe buy a new one with a m10 or m14 thread, no chuck, dedicated mixer, they have more power (usually 1000 watts+) and low gears (loadsa torque) so they can do the job everyday...pay 50 quid upwards, dannys got a link somewhere click that, some great bargains, again another thread have a search....mixer drills
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bigsegs
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dunno about that, the house i lost the first coat in had a date stone set in the front wall said 1756 or something like it, its old stuff, before my time, i only know it as a dusty kind of paint the kind you find in spanish resturants...
wallpaper paste, well i presume u mean wots left on after you scrape off the wallpaper? give it a good wash over with a really wet sponge if its bad, ive not really had any problems with it, sppose if you leave bloody great blobs of it all over, bein water based gloop itll make your skim blister and give you problems, just try and make sure that whatever your plasterin is sound really, if your gonna stick something on it 2-3mm thick that sets hard it needs to stick, i.e preferably suck a bit....thats how render works, anything beyond that is beyond me too, i only got my experience, i never been to plasterin school, if your new to the game youll make your mistakes same as everybody else, i only do plasterin now cos i find it easy money, i dont even need a van, no stress, dont need to employ loads of muppets who treat my gear like it comes free with a box of cornflakes and i get very little comeback...
i could build a house from footing to ridge, but i aint got that kind of float and id rather put what cash my back earns in my own pocket...
god i feel old now.. :'(
wallpaper paste, well i presume u mean wots left on after you scrape off the wallpaper? give it a good wash over with a really wet sponge if its bad, ive not really had any problems with it, sppose if you leave bloody great blobs of it all over, bein water based gloop itll make your skim blister and give you problems, just try and make sure that whatever your plasterin is sound really, if your gonna stick something on it 2-3mm thick that sets hard it needs to stick, i.e preferably suck a bit....thats how render works, anything beyond that is beyond me too, i only got my experience, i never been to plasterin school, if your new to the game youll make your mistakes same as everybody else, i only do plasterin now cos i find it easy money, i dont even need a van, no stress, dont need to employ loads of muppets who treat my gear like it comes free with a box of cornflakes and i get very little comeback...
i could build a house from footing to ridge, but i aint got that kind of float and id rather put what cash my back earns in my own pocket...
god i feel old now.. :'(
im a decorator and learnt my trade working with a guy that had done it for 30 years so i could pick his brain all day. decorating is pretty easy maybe not wallpapering, but is all the stuff that goes with it you need to know, that makes the difference. with plastering the method is pretty much the same every time, its just i dont know all the other stuff that goes with it, which makes this site so good. just another question do you do moslty private or site work
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bigsegs
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god i cant half waffle when ive ad a couple, sorry bout that, yeh i mostly do domestic/private, i never bothered with cscs cos ive always been self employed, aimed at renovations, come out of the full monty cos of the hassle, employees, partners, customers etc..
its the same s**t really, when you think about it on a base level, all trowel work is very similar, layin bricks - its all in the muck, not to wet, not too dry, let it suck, render - let it suck in, what happens is you mix some powder with water, be it cement, gypsum, tile adhesive whatever, apply it (not slap it on) to the substrate and straight away capillary action will begin to draw in the water which happens to be mixed with your powder and hey presto you have a bond...
anything that gets in the way of that process is gonna cause you problems so once you begin to understand that you can pretty much figure it out, some things catch u out, it happens to us all, sppose thats half the fun...
i used to hate painting, found it boring, now i love it, gives me trowel arm a break and i find it therapeutic.. not that i can spell it :-X
its the same s**t really, when you think about it on a base level, all trowel work is very similar, layin bricks - its all in the muck, not to wet, not too dry, let it suck, render - let it suck in, what happens is you mix some powder with water, be it cement, gypsum, tile adhesive whatever, apply it (not slap it on) to the substrate and straight away capillary action will begin to draw in the water which happens to be mixed with your powder and hey presto you have a bond...
anything that gets in the way of that process is gonna cause you problems so once you begin to understand that you can pretty much figure it out, some things catch u out, it happens to us all, sppose thats half the fun...
i used to hate painting, found it boring, now i love it, gives me trowel arm a break and i find it therapeutic.. not that i can spell it :-X
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bigsegs
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heres a thought...youre a painter right? if you stick neat paint straight out of the tub on a newly plastered wall you think, 'god that covers well', give it one more and it looks fantastic..
what happens is you can then peel the paint off in big sheets, it hasnt stuck yes?
thats because the plaster pulled all of the water out of the paint too fast, if you mist coat it first it slows down the suction of the wall....
exactly the same thing will happen if you plaster over old plaster without pva to seal it a bit, the plaster will just form a skin over the top and crack, same with render, its all about gettin the balance just right..
if the wall is completely sealed to start with e.g. gloss paint, it aint gonna suck, in which case u need a key to hold the stuff in place, be it render, finish plaster or paint...
what happens is you can then peel the paint off in big sheets, it hasnt stuck yes?
thats because the plaster pulled all of the water out of the paint too fast, if you mist coat it first it slows down the suction of the wall....
exactly the same thing will happen if you plaster over old plaster without pva to seal it a bit, the plaster will just form a skin over the top and crack, same with render, its all about gettin the balance just right..
if the wall is completely sealed to start with e.g. gloss paint, it aint gonna suck, in which case u need a key to hold the stuff in place, be it render, finish plaster or paint...
it alright bigsegs the more info the better, decorating is doing my head in a bit at the moment thats why ive decided to do plastering, its a new challange. when i've mastered plastering which i hope i do, and my sholders Knackerd ill probably do decorating again. cheers for info
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bigsegs
Guest
always put your first pva on wet, itll suck in and stick, make your first coat to thick and itll form a skin just like paint and all you will do is apply your plaster to a coat of pva, not to the wall, subsequent coats should be thicker to seal it better, just like painting...
depends on how fast you are, and how much of a glutton for punishment...
if you wanna run round like an idiot and get finished in 2 hours just give it one thin one, but you need to be good and fast..
if you wanna get a nice finish, time for a breather and you got upwards of 20m on i strongly suggest you give it a second coat, thicker than the first...
if what your layin on is an old artex ceiling 20m+ and it sucks like a pro, by all means give it another but you gotta let the first 2 dry, then wait for the 3rd to go tacky, be careful not to overseal it though..
myself i rarely give it more than 2, very rarely do i give it 1 unless its under 12m and not to bad to start with..
depends on how fast you are, and how much of a glutton for punishment...
if you wanna run round like an idiot and get finished in 2 hours just give it one thin one, but you need to be good and fast..
if you wanna get a nice finish, time for a breather and you got upwards of 20m on i strongly suggest you give it a second coat, thicker than the first...
if what your layin on is an old artex ceiling 20m+ and it sucks like a pro, by all means give it another but you gotta let the first 2 dry, then wait for the 3rd to go tacky, be careful not to overseal it though..
myself i rarely give it more than 2, very rarely do i give it 1 unless its under 12m and not to bad to start with..
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bigsegs
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boxing? didnt know it was on, all pay per view innit, and i aint paid for santa, dont tell me...theyre fighting on stilts??
im just gettin quietly pissed, night in, missus at work till 10, sad life i lead...should get out more, but then id never do any work!
im just gettin quietly pissed, night in, missus at work till 10, sad life i lead...should get out more, but then id never do any work!
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bigsegs
Guest
4th speckled hen, gone off lager makes me lairy, used to be a stella man, then it was white lightning and orange juice - at work, when i used to be a window fitter...then i got old...
over sealing...back to the gloss paint efffect, this bondit stuff, danny championed it so i went to get some, my wickes is bloody useless, they hadnt a clue what i was on about..
from what i can tell it seals it dead, i.e. kills all suction, but its got a grit in it....theres your key, remember gloss paint?
if ure last pva is tacky, its bonded to the undercoats and will bond your plaster to it...
if its dry and you gave it too many you may as well be plastering gloss paint, your gonna need a key...
over sealing...back to the gloss paint efffect, this bondit stuff, danny championed it so i went to get some, my wickes is bloody useless, they hadnt a clue what i was on about..
from what i can tell it seals it dead, i.e. kills all suction, but its got a grit in it....theres your key, remember gloss paint?
if ure last pva is tacky, its bonded to the undercoats and will bond your plaster to it...
if its dry and you gave it too many you may as well be plastering gloss paint, your gonna need a key...
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bigsegs
Guest
nice easy day off tomorrow, got a job starts monday, what bout you?
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bigsegs
Guest
yeh sort of, pva will stick to pva.
plaster will stick to gloss paint if you wanna get away quick, theres always some suction, im talkin about ideal situations...
you dont really wanna plaster over gloss without a key
you dont really wanna plaster over old bonding/plaster/render without slowing down the suction.
what you do wanna do is get the suction speed at a manageable level for you...best advice i can give u on that score is work with another plasterer or better still different plasterers until you find your own feet/methods, yes some spreads chuck one coat on, trowel it up and think sod it, site agents happy, moneys in the bank, why do any more...
others scaffold out, have 10m a set, fanny around all day and never make any money
you need to find a balance, seein as your a novice i'd say always try and do the best job you can, as you gain confidence youll get quicker and earn more...
you might just find yourself plastering an old plasterers house one day and your gonna look a right idiot one coating it...
how may have you had btw? yuoer sleppins gnoe a itb wobbly.... :
plaster will stick to gloss paint if you wanna get away quick, theres always some suction, im talkin about ideal situations...
you dont really wanna plaster over gloss without a key
you dont really wanna plaster over old bonding/plaster/render without slowing down the suction.
what you do wanna do is get the suction speed at a manageable level for you...best advice i can give u on that score is work with another plasterer or better still different plasterers until you find your own feet/methods, yes some spreads chuck one coat on, trowel it up and think sod it, site agents happy, moneys in the bank, why do any more...
others scaffold out, have 10m a set, fanny around all day and never make any money
you need to find a balance, seein as your a novice i'd say always try and do the best job you can, as you gain confidence youll get quicker and earn more...
you might just find yourself plastering an old plasterers house one day and your gonna look a right idiot one coating it...
how may have you had btw? yuoer sleppins gnoe a itb wobbly.... :
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bigsegs
Guest
thinkin on you wanna chat with dp, the ultimate in my mind is rollin a guage, i never knew it was called that but we used to do something similar metre high on damp jobs..
basically means youre constantly on the end of a trowel, sandwich in the other hand, all day long, you can get through some metreage but you have got to be as fit as a butchers dog, now THAT is plastering...u gotta know your onions though or you WILL come unstuck very quickly...
basically means youre constantly on the end of a trowel, sandwich in the other hand, all day long, you can get through some metreage but you have got to be as fit as a butchers dog, now THAT is plastering...u gotta know your onions though or you WILL come unstuck very quickly...
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bigsegs
Guest
F*****g ell an INCH WIDE!!!!
that aint on board, thats render or hardwall and that sounds like subsidence...
would this be a 1 off on a plot? sounds like it, wouldnt have expected a big firm to have cracks that big, though a lot of new builds get minor ones, they go up in a month from footings to people movin in...and theyre usually dot and dab...
yeah im on my second bottle now, im not a great speller anyway, when ever i write a reply, i usualy read it back to correct all the mistakes, i got a bit lazy. yeah what your saying is starting to sinkin now, you've been a great help, it all makes sence, its the way u explained it.
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bigsegs
Guest
back to workin with other spreads innit...you get so much more by watchin and doin than by readin a manual and havin a go...we're all learnin all the time, every day, be borin otherwise eh? good luck with it mate, i love this forum for that reason, always learnin, always a tip...
that sounds like i contradicted myself but not really.. i think too much.... im off to bed... gnight all..
that sounds like i contradicted myself but not really.. i think too much.... im off to bed... gnight all..
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